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Coming Home
posted by Brian on December 9, 2002 at 09:30 PM

As you no doubt know by now, Amy and I welcomed our two children to the world last Thursday night, the 5th of December. I know it’s a real cliche, but it was truly one of the most amazing days of my life. Also one of the longest, but more on that later. The sight of Frances emerging into the world was miraculous, and it just as incredible when James came out. I’m also really happy that we didn’t give in to the temptation to find out their genders before they were born. The sight of a girl and a boy, when we didn’t know what was coming, was just tremendous. It made me think of all those times I’ve heard fathers say that seeing their children born was the most incredible day of their lives. I’ve always thought, “I’m sure it was, but, you know, children are born every day, so how incredible can it be?” Well, now I get it.

December 5th was a snowy day here in Boston, and most of the hospital staff talked with each other about whether to attend the staff Christmas party that night. But as we sat in the hospital room during the initial stages of labor (before any serious pushing occurred), we listened to music and had the lights low as Amy was monitored and I spent time reading a magazine. It seemed so serene to look out at the snow falling. We were sure to check the Globe that morning (which we saved, of course) to find out who else might have been born on December 5th. It turned out to be Walt Disney and Strom Thurmond. Hmmm….. I’ll leave you to ponder that on your own…

Anyway, the delivery was pretty normal, if a bit traumatic. Amy has had some serious recovery to go through, and, though she’s still a bit weak (which led to an extra day in the hospital), she’s doing very well. One thing I found remarkable was that the hospital staff all seemed truly enthusiastic about our new babies. I would think that, seeing hundreds upon hundreds of kids born, one would get somewhat jaded, but, to a person, they each offered congratulations and oohs and aahs over Franny and Jamie.

Today, we came home. Frances and Jamie were pretty unsure about car seats at first, and chose to express those feelings with gusto. But once securely strapped in, we headed off into Newton and through to Waltham. There is construction going on in the road outside the hospital, and all it took was a couple of pot holes to shake the car around and relax the kids. Sounds strange, but it’s true: the worse the road we were on, the more relaxed they were. Which is good considering the state of the roads in Newton.

Once we were home, Amy went inside to greet Rafiki alone, just to make sure Rafi knew that Amy was happy to see her one on one. (That was a suggestion from a pregnancy book we read.) Then we brought each of the kids in and Rafi had a look-see. She was really excited and clearly happy to see us and to see the kids. It’s impossible to say how much she really understands what’s going on, but she’s dealing with it incredibly well. After a feeding and nap for everyone, I took Raf out on our normal neighborhood patrol, and she couldn’t wait to get back home. She practically ran after the last corner, and when we came in, she bolted upstairs to the nursery to see what might be going on.

If you haven’t yet visited our babies’ web site, please do. (See the previous entry posted by David.) At first I thought that whole thing was kind of a cool little gimmick. But then the comments started coming in to the guest book. I can’t tell you how much those meant to us. I printed them out at home every day to read them to Amy in the evening at the hospital, and those words and thoughts really helped keep us both going in the first couple of extremely stressful and intense days. So thanks if you posted something. Of course, after a little while, we’ll print out a copy to keep in a scrap book for the kids.

I’m sure there will be volumes to write in the days to come.

BKM

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Comments

When you were born, I was not allowed in the delivery room (though every resident, intern, and nurse were, due to your mother's special situation. I have often wished I had had the opportunity, and your description confirms for me the wisdom of allowing fathers to witness the births.

Good idea to let the kids get an early introduction to the joys of pot holes. If they have trouble going to sleep, drive over a washboard road.

I wonder about how much Rafi percieves. I recall you saying she became more protective of Amy during the pregnancy. Do you suppose she relates the babies, Amy's return to more normal size, and the pregnancy? Sounds as though she is going to adjust very well.

We are grateful for the graces you have received--good care, healthy children, loving family and friends.

Posted by Dad | December 9, 2002 09:59 PM

Hey, guys --

Is the baby registry still accurate? Are those still things you need?

Posted by David II | December 10, 2002 02:50 PM

Yeah, we could still use all of the stuff that's still there. Some of it we have, so it's not as urgent (crib bumper), and some of it will be useful no matter how many we get (clothes). And the other stuff would be fun too, especially the foot stool...

Posted by BKM | December 10, 2002 03:30 PM

When you see how well they sleep through potholes, it makes you wonder what it must be like to be a fetus riding around in all that fluid, eh?

I resonated with your feelings with the snow outside. There were no windows in my delivery room, but when we got up to the hospital room, we learned it had been storming all day. It was soothing to sit in a little cocoon of being a new family watching the thunderstorm rage outside.

Glad to hear all are home safely. So glad Marty was able to get there without mishap and give a hand in these early days. It sounds like the protective part of Rafi's nature is emerging - I can't wait to hear how it is when the kids start moving and she has to keep up with them!

Hugs to all.

Posted by Heather | December 10, 2002 06:43 PM

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